After losing to Takanori Gomi via 1st round submission Baron has gone on a five fight winning streak most recently upsetting Hyato Sakurai in the 1st round back in May. He has great wrestling, good submissions, and okay standup( though it's not very technical). He comes in with a much better resume and has been in with some top guys already only losing to Takanori Gomi and lightweight contender Per Ecklund.

Jim Miller is relatively unrpoven with his only high profile win coming over IFL vet Bart Bart Palaszewski. The UFC attempted to get Jim to fight Marcus Aurelio back in UFN 13 but Jim was still under contract to the IFL. He has great submissions, good wrestling, and has average standup skills. His sole loss came at the hands of Frankie Edgar.

This is a match that can go either way. I give the wrestling edge to Baron as well as standup (though more slightly). Miller has the edge in jiu-jitsu and is a bigger lightweight as David really doesn't cut much weight. Make no mistake both fighters are going to want this fight on the ground. David is a very similar fighter to Frankie Edgar so this is a tough matchup for Jim. Everything points to David having the advantage in this fight, but David can get overtly aggressive on the ground and has a habit of getting swept, and while he's dangerous on the bottom his guard can be easilly passed by a top notch jiu-jitsu fighter like Jim. Miller should be able to use his superior jitsu on the ground and use his size advantage outmuscle Baron for position. I see this ending in a second round submission for Miller.

Last edited 10/8/08 4:32PM server time by WolfensteinEdit note/reason: n/a15 total post edits

As I was breaking it down more myself I started thinking..man I should probably pick Baron, but Miller has some really high level jitsu and as most of this fight will take place on the ground where both fighters are more comfortable, I just felt like Jim will win from there.

I agree wolf. It's a tough one to pick, but I'd be surprised if Miller couldn't submit him in 15 minutes on the ground. Miller will likely be on his back, but he has never been content with staying there - he has a fast paced bjj game.

Plus, those splits Baron does to celebrate his wins are enough for me to pick against him. For some reason it makes me very uncomfortable.

Its Jim, his brother Dan also signed with the UFC and recently pulled off 1st round sub in the middleweight division. I agree with many others in that I see Miller getting a second round sub. He is very technical and although I am not particularly familiar with Baron's resume, it appears that the fight will make it to the ground where I believe Jim is stronger.

i have watched Baron fight for a while and he always does the same thing. he keeps his distance on the feet and uses lunging strikes to close the distance until he feels comfortable enough to clinch. in this fight, i believe it will be a mistake to clinch up with Miller as his Freestyle wrestling and JJ are very dangerous from the clinch. Miller will be able to control Baron imo and implement a lot of front chokes and sweeps to score him some points on the score cards. i see Miller winning a UD when all is said and done.